Dionisio Foianini

Dionisio Foianini Banzer (28 February 1903 – 23 November 2001)[1] was a Bolivian politician and businessman from Santa Cruz de la Sierra. He was one of the founders of YPFB in 1937.[2][3]

Dionisio Foianini
Minister of Mining and Petrol
In office 12 August 1938 – 23 August 1939
President	Germán Busch
Preceded by	Felipe Manuel Rivera
Succeeded by	Felipe Manuel Rivera
Personal details
Born	Dionisio Foianini Banzer (1903-02-28)28 February 1903 Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
Died	23 November 2001(2001-11-23) (aged 98)
Spouse(s)	Dorothy Ryder
Children	Dionisio Foianini Ryder
Parents	Dionisio Foianini Ioli Carmen Banzer Aliaga
Education	University of Pavia

The son of an Italian father, Dionisio Foianini Ioli, and a Bolivian mother, Carmen Banzer Aliaga, he grew up in central Bolivia not far from most of Standard Oil's Bolivian fields. After studying pharmacy in Italy, where he came to admire Benito Mussolini's fascism,[4] Foianini returned to Bolivia before the Chaco War broke out and was put in charge of munitions manufacture. During the war, he went on a secret mission to Argentina and organized Bolivian espionage behind Paraguayan lines. When the war ended, Foianini organized the nationalization of the Standard Oil fields and set up a State Petroleum Board.[5] After Germán Busch organized a coup in 1937, Foianini became Minister of Mines and Petroleum in Busch's Cabinet.[6][7]

The area called Dionisio Foianini Triangle on the border with Paraguay and Brazil is named after him. Puerto Busch, which is named after Germán Busch, is located in the triangle.